a bleeding purple utah jazz blog

Game 54 – Reunited and It Feels So Good, Part Deux

When AK entered the game (17 days after he went under the knife) and the fans exploded in cheers and applause, I felt like standing up at my desk and doing the same–which is even sillier than it sounds because I only had the radio feed at my disposal.

Phil Johnson said after the game that he’d never seen AK as excited as he was in practice on the previous day to get back. With each minute that AK played, I got more and more feelgood. Jerry limited him to 18 minutes, but in that time he racked up 14 points (5-6), 1 board, 1 assist, 3 steals, and 1 block. After sandwiching a steal with two layups in the 4th, AK “almost fell down. And if I fall down, I don’t get back up…I was so tired at that point. Everybody was laughing at me. [Trainer] Gary Briggs said, ‘Do you need an oxygen mask?'”

I was glad to see (and by “see” I mean “make assumptions based on the box score”) Sap looking rejuvenated. Ronnie B and CJ combined for 43 points (15-24) and 9 boards. KK went 1-9, but collected a team-high 9 boards.

Memo was out with the flu (of course), and I am quite frankly astounded that no one came back from Mexico with severe game-missing sunburns.

Streaks broken in this game:
–DWill’s 5-game streak of 30+ points and 7-game streak of >50% shooting (he said a couple days ago that he’s still feeling pain in his ankle. A pox on Derrick Rose.)
–Knight’s 9-game streak of 0-for’s (0-18)
–AK’s 11 missed games streak

Streaks that are safe for the forseeable future:
–Jerry’s “longest tenured coach in North American sports” streak
–Harp’s “football mention by game analysts” streak
–Boozer’s 42 missed games streak

Amazing but true:
A hairy lioness and a 70s porn star successfully mated and had a baby. He’s all grown up now.

Rockets spokesman Nelson Luis said McGrady met with a doctor in New York on Tuesday and had another out-of-state doctor’s appointment scheduled Wednesday. McGrady said he would have the surgery “immediately.”

(Both put off having surgery, sought multiple medical opinions, and then decided to have surgery immediately after seeing an out-of-town doctor.)

Houston coach Rick Adelman lashed out at McGrady after practice on Wednesday for not informing the team of his intentions. Adelman said he only learned that McGrady was out for the season when he read it in a newspaper in the morning. Some of the Rockets said they also found out through the media…

(Both prefer to inform their teams/coaches/owners of things through the media rather than (perish the thought!) talking to them. Watch TMac, his doctor, and his agent go MIA as soon as the surgery is performed…outside of Houston.)